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Jesus Uses a Story About Farm Workers

20 “God’s kingdom is like a man who owned some land. One morning, the man went out very early to hire some people to work in his vineyard. He agreed to pay the workers one silver coin for working that day. Then he sent them into the vineyard to work.

“About nine o’clock the man went to the marketplace and saw some other people standing there. They were doing nothing. So he said to them, ‘If you go and work in my field, I will pay you what your work is worth.’ So they went to work in the vineyard.

“The man went out again about twelve o’clock and again at three o’clock. Both times he hired some others to work in his vineyard. About five o’clock the man went to the marketplace again. He saw some other people standing there. He asked them, ‘Why did you stand here all day doing nothing?’

“They said, ‘No one gave us a job.’

“The man said to them, ‘Then you can go and work in my vineyard.’

“At the end of the day, the owner of the field said to the boss of all the workers, ‘Call the workers and pay them all. Start by paying the last people I hired. Then pay all of them, ending with the ones I hired first.’

“The workers who were hired at five o’clock came to get their pay. Each worker got one silver coin. 10 Then the workers who were hired first came to get their pay. They thought they would be paid more than the others. But each one of them also received one silver coin. 11 When they got their silver coin, they complained to the man who owned the land. 12 They said, ‘Those people were hired last and worked only one hour. But you paid them the same as us. And we worked hard all day in the hot sun.’

13 “But the man who owned the field said to one of them, ‘Friend, I am being fair with you. You agreed to work for one silver coin. Right? 14 So take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same pay I gave you. 15 I can do what I want with my own money. Why would you be jealous because I am generous?’

16 “So those who are last now will be first in the future. And those who are first now will be last in the future.”

Jesus Talks Again About His Death(A)

17 Jesus was going to Jerusalem. His twelve followers were with him. While they were walking, he gathered the followers together and spoke to them privately. He said to them, 18 “We are going to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be handed over to the leading priests and the teachers of the law, and they will say he must die. 19 They will hand him over to the foreigners, who will laugh at him and beat him with whips, and then they will kill him on a cross. But on the third day after his death, he will be raised to life again.”

A Mother Asks a Special Favor(B)

20 Then Zebedee’s wife came to Jesus and brought her sons. She bowed before Jesus and asked him to do something for her.

21 Jesus said, “What do you want?”

She said, “Promise that one of my sons will sit at your right side in your kingdom and the other at your left.”

22 So Jesus said to the sons, “You don’t understand what you are asking. Can you drink from the cup[a] that I must drink from?”

The sons answered, “Yes, we can!”

23 Jesus said to them, “It is true that you will drink from the cup that I drink from. But it is not for me to say who will sit at my right or my left. My Father has decided who will do that. He has prepared those places for them.”

24 The other ten followers heard this and were angry with the two brothers. 25 So Jesus called the followers together. He said, “You know that the rulers of the non-Jewish people love to show their power over the people. And their important leaders love to use all their authority over the people. 26 But it should not be that way with you. Whoever wants to be your leader must be your servant. 27 Whoever wants to be first must serve the rest of you like a slave. 28 Do as I did: The Son of Man did not come for people to serve him. He came to serve others and to give his life to save many people.”

Jesus Heals Two Blind Men(C)

29 When Jesus and his followers were leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him. 30 There were two blind men sitting by the road. They heard that Jesus was coming by. So they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, please help us!”

31 The people there criticized the blind men and told them to be quiet. But they shouted more and more, “Lord, Son of David, please help us!”

32 Jesus stopped and said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?”

33 They answered, “Lord, we want to be able to see.”

34 Jesus felt sorry for the blind men. He touched their eyes, and immediately they were able to see. Then they became followers of Jesus.

Jesus Enters Jerusalem Like a King(D)

21 Jesus and his followers were coming closer to Jerusalem. But first they stopped at Bethphage at the hill called the Mount of Olives. From there Jesus sent two of his followers into town. He said to them, “Go to the town you can see there. When you enter it, you will find a donkey with her colt. Untie them both, and bring them to me. If anyone asks you why you are taking the donkeys, tell them, ‘The Master needs them. He will send them back soon.’”

This showed the full meaning of what the prophet said:

“Tell the people of Zion,[b]
    ‘Now your king is coming to you.
He is humble and riding on a donkey.
    He is riding on a young donkey, born from a work animal.’” (E)

The followers went and did what Jesus told them to do. They brought the mother donkey and the young donkey to him. They covered the donkeys with their coats, and Jesus sat on them. On the way to Jerusalem, many people spread their coats on the road for Jesus. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Some of the people were walking ahead of Jesus. Others were walking behind him. They all shouted,

“Praise[c] to the Son of David!
    ‘Welcome! God bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’ (F)

Praise to God in heaven!”

10 Then Jesus went into Jerusalem. All the people in the city were confused. They asked, “Who is this man?”

11 The crowds following Jesus answered, “This is Jesus. He is the prophet from the town of Nazareth in Galilee.”

Jesus Goes to the Temple(G)

12 Jesus went into the Temple area. He threw out all those who were selling and buying things there. He turned over the tables that belonged to those who were exchanging different kinds of money. And he turned over the benches of those who were selling doves. 13 Jesus said to them, “The Scriptures say, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer.’[d] But you are changing it into a ‘hiding place for thieves.’[e]

14 Some blind people and some who were crippled came to Jesus in the Temple area. Jesus healed them. 15 The leading priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he was doing. And they saw the children praising him in the Temple area. The children were shouting, “Praise to the Son of David.” All this made the priests and the teachers of the law angry.

16 They asked Jesus, “Do you hear what these children are saying?”

He answered, “Yes. The Scriptures say, ‘You have taught children and babies to give praise.’[f] Have you not read that Scripture?”

17 Then Jesus left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

Jesus Shows the Power of Faith(H)

18 Early the next morning, Jesus was going back to the city. He was very hungry. 19 He saw a fig tree beside the road and went to get a fig from it. But there were no figs on the tree. There were only leaves. So Jesus said to the tree, “You will never again produce fruit!” The tree immediately dried up and died.

20 When the followers saw this, they were very surprised. They asked, “How did the fig tree dry up and die so quickly?”

21 Jesus answered, “The truth is, if you have faith and no doubts, you will be able to do the same as I did to this tree. And you will be able to do more. You will be able to say to this mountain, ‘Go, mountain, fall into the sea.’ And if you have faith, it will happen. 22 If you believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer.”

Jewish Leaders Doubt Jesus’ Authority(I)

23 Jesus went into the Temple area. While Jesus was teaching there, the leading priests and the older leaders of the people came to him. They said, “Tell us! What authority do you have to do these things you are doing? Who gave you this authority?”

24 Jesus answered, “I will ask you a question too. If you answer me, then I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. 25 Tell me: When John baptized people, did his authority come from God, or was it only from other people?”

The priests and the Jewish leaders talked about Jesus’ question. They said to each other, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ then he will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe John?’ 26 But we can’t say John’s baptism was from someone else. We are afraid of the people, because they all believe John was a prophet.”

27 So they told Jesus, “We don’t know the answer.”

Jesus said, “Then I will not tell you who gave me the authority to do these things.

Jesus Uses a Story About Two Sons

28 “Tell me what you think about this: There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

29 “The son answered, ‘I will not go.’ But later he decided he should go, and he went.

30 “Then the father went to the other son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ He answered, ‘Yes, sir, I will go and work.’ But he did not go.

31 “Which of the two sons obeyed his father?”

The Jewish leaders answered, “The first son.”

Jesus said to them, “The truth is, you are worse than the tax collectors and the prostitutes. In fact, they will enter God’s kingdom before you enter. 32 John came showing you the right way to live, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes believed John. You saw that happening, but you would not change. You still refused to believe him.

God Sends His Son(J)

33 “Listen to this story: There was a man who owned a vineyard. He put a wall around the field and dug a hole for a winepress. Then he built a tower. He leased the land to some farmers and then left on a trip. 34 Later, it was time for the grapes to be picked. So the man sent his servants to the farmers to get his share of the grapes.

35 “But the farmers grabbed the servants and beat one. They killed another one and then stoned to death a third servant. 36 So the man sent some other servants to the farmers. He sent more servants than he sent the first time. But the farmers did the same thing to them that they did the first time. 37 So the man decided to send his son to the farmers. He said, ‘The farmers will respect my son.’

38 “But when the farmers saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the owner’s son. This vineyard will be his. If we kill him, it will be ours.’ 39 So the farmers took the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him.

40 “So what will the owner of the vineyard do to these farmers when he comes?”

41 The Jewish priests and leaders said, “He will surely kill those evil men. Then he will lease the land to other farmers, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Surely you have read this in the Scriptures:

‘The stone that the builders refused to accept
    became the cornerstone.
The Lord did this,
    and it is wonderful to us.’ (K)

43 “So I tell you that God’s kingdom will be taken away from you. It will be given to people who do what God wants in his kingdom. 44 Whoever falls on this stone will be broken. And it will crush anyone it falls on.”[g]

45 When the leading priests and the Pharisees heard these stories, they knew that Jesus was talking about them. 46 They wanted to find a way to arrest Jesus. But they were afraid to do anything, because the people believed that Jesus was a prophet.

Footnotes

  1. Matthew 20:22 cup A symbol of suffering. Jesus used the idea of drinking from a cup to mean accepting the suffering he would face in the terrible events that were soon to come. Also in verse 23.
  2. Matthew 21:5 people of Zion Literally, “daughter of Zion,” meaning the city of Jerusalem.
  3. Matthew 21:9 Praise Literally, “Hosanna,” a Hebrew word used in praying to God for help. Here, it was probably a shout of celebration used in praising God or his Messiah. Also in the last line of this verse and in verse 15.
  4. Matthew 21:13 Quote from Isa. 56:7.
  5. Matthew 21:13 Quote from Jer. 7:11.
  6. Matthew 21:16 Quote from Ps. 8:2 (Greek version).
  7. Matthew 21:44 Some Greek copies do not have verse 44.

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